Our journey here was by boat, sailing leisurely down the river. We took this journey later than planned due to a bought of food poisoning from a restaurant. In previous countries we have eaten street food quite freely but here we were warned to be a bit more cautious.

Upon arrival we discovered that a few of our fellow passengers were staying at the same guest house so we went out for a meal together and welcomed in the new year. The celebrations in the town here were pretty similar to what we do in the west, but instead of cans of lager it was bottles of whisky being drunk.

When we left, we took the train to Yangon. We had read that it was "an experience" so were a little wary but we needn't have been. The windows are left open, with shutters and glass both raised, so that you can hear, smell and possibly even touch the outside world. The 17mph average speed feels deliberately slow (it's not, these trains are at least 80 years and are left over from the British Empire) as the whole journey resembles a safari through Myanmar. It was a gorgeous slice of village life, passing brick kilns, local deafening parties and so much wildlife that was unafraid of such a sluggish locomotive.